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Highlands Today

Boredom Is Not In Their Vocabulary

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By Norm Cukras | Highlands Today

Published: October 13, 2007

When the Burnside family took up residence in the suburbs of Sebring last year there was a noticeable blip in the county's population. Edward and Jennifer, who moved down here from Pennsylvania, were accompanied by their six children. Two boys and four girls ages 8 to 13. Three of the children were born into the family and three were selected to become members.

Ed and Jenn, who like large families, decided after having their natural born children to adopt a child. They applied through the non-profit organization Adopt America Network and after about 2 ½ years were matched with a foster home child. Since they had said that they were open to adopting a sibling group the Burnsides eventually were approved to adopt three sisters all about the same age as their own children.

"We talked to them on the phone a few times and then we all went to Dallas (Texas) to meet them," Jenn related. It was a match at first sight.

Of course the wheels driving the bureaucracy turn infinitely slow. The Burnsides lay awake at night wondering: "Is it us or is it the system?" It was the system. One that took six months to learn what the combined families had discovered in six days.

A Very Merry Christmas

And so it came to pass that on Dec. 21, 2004 the quantity of presents under the Christmas tree in
Ulysses, Pa., almost doubled, while the attendance in the one-class-fits-all Burnside home school did double in size. It now includes Joey, Nickie, Lauren, Denise, Matt and Jamie.

The Burnsides have been baptized in the field of education. Ed's mom is a teacher, Ed taught middle school and Jenn graduated with a degree in education at the college where she and Ed first met.

And when her eldest child approached school age she didn't want to happen what a friend of her's had told her: "You're not going to have the same kid next year that you have now." So Jenn opened her own school. And it's been running successfully in Pennsylvania, New Zealand and Florida.

New Zealand?

The then smaller family thought it would be an adventure to take a teaching sabbatical to the down-under country. For a year Ed taught in a classroom while Jenn taught at home. "It was cool," Joey exclaimed about the experience. They then returned to Ulysses, a crossroads town of about 600. But American schools were changing, and not necessarily for the better. So Ed decided to seek his fortune elsewhere. With his background in mathematics he naturally migrated to a career in investment, becoming a financial advisor for Edward Jones, locating here in Sebring.

The Next Step

As the family settled in to their new home they increased their study of animal husbandry by expanding their holdings of household pets, which now numbers three dogs and two cats, all of whom share the common interest of trying to decide which of the eight family members will give them the most attention.

The home/school is clean and tidy owing in some small part to the various styles of footwear that are parked in the front entryway. No exceptions. Inside, books abound. The computer, which serves primarily as a gateway to the Internet, is used for school projects and research and for looking up stuff. What with schoolwork and chores the home takes on a beehive-like center of activity. "Boredom is not allowed," Ed says of the home atmosphere.

Home school mom Jenn keeps in contact with other home schoolers and as a group they arrange for such activates as field trips. Last week the group wrangled a behind the scenes visit to a pizza chain in Winter Haven where the children got to make, and eat, their own miniature pizzas. On the way home in their bus-like van the Burnside troop stopped off at Cypress Gardens to see the newborn animals.

Family excursions are common. Mini-vacations almost always include stops at museums and historic sites. But they may be as varied as standing in line as a family unit waiting for the clock to toll midnight when the latest Harry Potter book goes on sale. But then a student can afford a little extra sack time the next morning since the teacher was up late too.

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